Minnetrista

Authorities said a potentially tragic situation involving an erratic driver in the west Twin Cities metro Tuesday ended with the driver being taken into custody. Officers with departments in South Lake Minnetonka, Deephaven and Minnetrista were dispatched on a report of an erratic driver on Highway 7.

A 21-year-old Minneapolis woman has died after a motorcycle crash Saturday afternoon in Minnetrista, Minn. According to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office, Samantha Ann Bakker was killed at about 3:10 p.m. on County Road 26 at the intersection of North Branch Road.

A 37-year-old man had to be rescued from Lake Minnetonka on Saturday after his snowmobile went through the ice, according to the Carver County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities received several 911 calls just before 9 p.m. that a snowmobile and its rider had fallen through the ice at the southern end of Smithtown Bay on Lake Minnetonka.

A Minnesota woman has gone on television in Russia with an emotional appeal for an exception to be made to that nation’s year-old ban on adoptions by Americans. She and her husband adopted a boy from Russia in 2008 and refuse to give up long-standing efforts to also adopt their son’s biological brother from an orphanage in the city of Kursk. Renee Thomas was featured on TV Dozhd (TV Rain), Russia’s top independent station, in an 11-minute segment that aired Thursday, a day before the opening of the Olympics in Sochi. At the close of the segment, she breaks into tears as she explains her family’s determination.

A year after Russia imposed a ban on adoptions by Americans, some affected U.S. families are reluctantly looking elsewhere to adopt. But not Renee and John Thomas of Minnetrista, Minn., who adopted 8-year-old Jack Thomas from Russia in 2008.

It’s day two for the roll-out of MNsure, but some who are shopping online for health insurance plans said they are running into technical glitches and delays. MNSure officials said the system is running smoothly, after a bumpy start Tuesday when it launched — so far about 2,500 accounts have been created.

Jonathan Markle turned himself in to authorities to face possible legal punishment. But according to Markle’s attorney, Joe Friedberg, the felony charge of criminal vehicular homicide pales in comparison to the regrets and guilt he’s already feeling.

Looking to take a tasty retreat? Well, you don’t have to pony up the big bucks at a restaurant — just get outside and enjoy fine living outdoors. If you believe that the grass is always greener on the other side, you haven’t seen all the best picnic spots in the Twin Cities. This list contains 10 great places for dining outdoors, but if you have a favorite spot, we’d like to hear about that place too. So, pack up the picnic basket and enjoy the scenery that makes the land of 10,000 lakes so great!